Embattled doctor surrenders Utah medical license

Comments

I wonder if the state would of gone after him if he practiced in SLC and
videoconferenced with patients in say Moroni or Vernal. The fact is a growing
number of psychiatrists or other MD's practice this way usually in concert
with a rural clinic. They have a name for it, its called telemedicine and other
MD's in the state practice telemedicine as well.

Since
Suboxone is used primarily for opiod withdrawal and not for pain management and
he had an assistant that would do the vitals, to me it doesn't seem as
eggregious to run a suboxone clinic by telemedicine as long as his clients were
given good care.

RedSan Antonia, TX

July 22, 2014 11:34 a.m.

Sounds like a knee jerk reaction to harass another doctor who is trying to help
people.

Simpe SpectatorSt.George, UT

July 22, 2014 11:13 a.m.

A lot of health care in Utah is very unethical. Starting with IHC. It's a
monopoly and a lot of Utah congressman have their hands in IHC and won't
stand up. A lot of doctors are breaking stark law (owning a rehab or home
health). Oncologists (cancer doctors) won't put patients on hospice because
they will lose pay. Utah is a health care mess!

EvetsEagle Mountain, UT

July 22, 2014 8:30 a.m.

I don't know how good his care was as there is not enough information in
one short article. BUT I do know this that it is possible to deliver excellent
care via video conference/telemedicine if the doctor is knowledgeable and he has
good support staff. We started doing telemedicine in the military in the early
90's with great success. You can bring in experts from anywhere in world.-

Scott FarcusBeaver, UT

July 22, 2014 7:51 a.m.

Get use to it people. Obama Care's virtual Doctor with a minimum paid CNN
working with the patient.

Kelliebelle66West Jordan, UT

July 22, 2014 5:11 a.m.

Dr. Gahlinger saved my life. I had been prescribed opiod pain medications long
term by a spine doctor who neglected to educate me on the dangers of long term
opiod use. I got on the internet to find a doctor after hearing about Suboxone.
I called just as his office was closing. He and his nurse waited for me and
encouraged me to not take the Lortab that my spine doctor had just called in to
help me with withdrawals because I had gone cold turkey and had been off it for
nearly 3 days. Dr Gahlinger gave me Suboxone in the office to help my
withdrawal and a prescription. They stayed until after 9 pm. I have been off of
pain medication since. He also gave me a book he wrote that educated me about
opioids. I know Gahlinger likes to do his humanitarian work out of the country
and once left for a time when I was a patient. It was a mistake for him not
to pay attention to his DEA license in Utah and he agrees he should be
sanctioned. People should know that he did good things while in Utah and still
practices medicine elsewhere.

nicholdraperWest Jordan, UT

July 22, 2014 5:00 a.m.

This doctor spent more time diagnosing my wife than any previous doctor. He
prescribed a course of treatment that got my wife off the heaver drugs that her
previous doctor would just prescribe after seconds in the exam room. Three
years ago he stopped treating patiences in Utah so my wife had to find another
doctor. I can understand why some of his patiences kept asking to see him even
after he stopped practicing in the state. This is more of a case of him missing
paying the states registration fees. He is a good doctor and still practices in
California.

WeThePeopleSandy, UT

July 22, 2014 12:43 a.m.

Yet another case of big government interfering with a hardworking man's
livelihood....

CKJ1Murray, UT

July 21, 2014 10:33 p.m.

This guy treated my son for a while. He cares about one thing and only one
thing,,, money. His office was nothing but a Suboxone supplier to anyone who
wanted it and had the money to pay.

Seek to understandSandy, UT

July 21, 2014 10:19 p.m.

The babies born with Suboxone would have been born with other opiates had their
moms not been treated with Suboxone. Not an ideal situation, but it's not
as if the babies would have been born clean, and Suboxone is the lesser of
opiate evils in most cases like this.

The Dr. was able to practice
in Utah most likely because we have an explosion of opiate addiction and only a
few Dr.'s who are able to prescribe Suboxone (I don't understand why
the limitation on this, but I've been told by Dr.'s that you have to
have special training to prescribe it and you can only have a certain number of
patients on it at any given time).

We are in a crisis with heroin
addiction in Utah and not enough Dr.'s to treat it. I can see why he was
able to do it from far away via the internet. We need a plan of action to help
our families with this epidemic.

KralonHUNTINGTON BEACH, CA

July 21, 2014 8:29 p.m.

Doesn't seem like good quality of care based on the info in the article.

Much like the online editing of articles, e.g. "even though he had
not had held a valid". But, much more serious.